Walliams smashes fundraising target with River Thames swim

By Anonymous

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

The Little Britain star decided to raise money for Sport Relief charity by swimming 140 miles along the river from Gloucestershire to Big Ben in London and he received a hero's welcome on Monday (12Sep11) as he emerged victorious at the finish line.

His wife, Dutch supermodel Lara Stone, joined hundreds of fans gathered at Westminster to congratulate the funnyman on his achievement and his feat was made even more significant after it emerged Walliams had broken his fundraising target of £1 million.

In a post on Sport Relief's Twitter.com page, a spokesman writes, "He made it. 140 miles in 8 days! What a man.

"David's just been given the new total £1093125 - you broke the million (pound target) twitter!"

Walliams' efforts have not been without its health concerns - he was forced to change into a wetsuit on the first day of his swim last week (06Sep11) after his skin turned blue due to the cold water, and fell sick with a stomach bug a day later.

He was also advised to abort the challenge early after receiving warnings about raw sewage in the London stretch of the Thames.